Joe Divall to lead Team GB at Erzurum 2017 European Winter Youth Olympic Festival

18 November 2016 / 14:49

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has today announced Joe Divall as Chef de Mission for the Erzurum 2017 Winter European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF).

Divall, who is currently a Games Services Manager at the BOA, will lead the Team GB delegation in Turkey from 11 to 18 February next year as Erzurum plays host to the 13th winter EYOF.

The city is set to welcome athletes from over 45 European countries for seven days of action across nine Olympic sporting disciplines: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, short track speed skating, ski jumping and snowboarding.

Erzurum 2017 will represent the second time Turkey has hosted an Olympic Youth event following the summer EYOF in Trabzon in 2011.

Divall, who first joined the BOA in 2007, has been part of six Youth Olympic Festivals and Games with Team GB as Deputy Chef de Mission and the HQ team and, this summer, held the post of Head of Operations at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

In addition, Divall has held key leadership and operational roles at the Sochi 2014 and Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the London 2012 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the inaugural European Games in Baku last year.

“To have the chance to lead Team GB as Chef de Mission at Erzurum 2017 is a huge honour and I’m delighted to be given the opportunity,” said Divall.

“Having been part of numerous youth Olympic events over the past nine years I know first-hand what an inspirational experience these can be for young British athletes and we as a BOA team will be doing everything we can to ensure this will be repeated in February next year.

“These Festivals are a fantastic opportunity for our young winter talent to experience life in a multi-sport Games for the first time and I hope it can act as a springboard for future success with Team GB at an Olympic Winter Games.”

Bill Sweeney, CEO of the BOA said: “Joe’s experience in providing a first-class environment for our athletes at Youth Olympic level has been exceptional in recent years and he’s the ideal choice to lead Team GB at Erzurum 2017.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for the continued development of our internal talent here at the BOA to help develop and build on world-class skills in Olympic sport as we look ahead to PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and beyond.

“European Youth Olympic Festivals represent fantastic opportunities for young athletes to learn Olympic values and understand what life is like as part of Team GB and no doubt Erzurum will be no different for the class of 2017.”